Merlin

Pretty much since Merlin came back at the beginning of May we have been telling you that it's about to end. We have been warning you that Camelot cannot last forever. We have been pestering you to watch because all too soon you won't be able to watch again. Tonight is the last episode. Tonight is the last time we are going to tell you to watch "Merlin" because this is the last new episode of Merlin that is going to air. Do not miss this episode because, if we haven't made it clear, there aren't any more coming. Series finale time.

Past Events

Next week, on May 31, 2013, "Merlin" will end its five season run. This will happen with the second part of the finale. This is important today, one week earlier, because it means that the first part of the finale is going to air this very day. Yes, part one of the end of "Merlin" is tonight and no amount of magic is going to change that. No amount of wishing or hoping or pulling swords out of stones or changing into a fish is going to alter it. The inexorable march to the finale continues tonight.

After a young, aspiring knight narrowly saves his life from the attack of a deadly winged creature, a grateful Merlin brings his rescuer to Gaius to treat his wounds and attempts to convince Arthur to let him join his band of knights.

After a young, aspiring knight narrowly saves his life from the attack of a deadly winged creature, a grateful Merlin brings his rescuer to Gaius to treat his wounds and attempts to convince Arthur to let him join his band of knights.

Today, after two and a half months off the air, "Merlin" is going to return with its final four episodes. Well, four if you count the final two as separate episodes instead of a double episode. Said final double-episode will air over the course of two separate weeks, but let's not focus on that, that's the once and future finale. Instead, let us focus on tonight, on episode nine of the fifth season of a series which focuses on a young Merlin learning to be all that he can be... even if said Merlin isn't as young as he was in the first episode of the first season.

Morgana has a nightmare in which she sees the death of Arthur at the hands of a beautiful young girl; when Arthur and Merlin bring in a man and his daughter from the hunt, Morgana tries to warn Arthur, but he is smitten with the woman.

A mysterious, scarred man delivers a bunch of enchanted flowers to Morgana, and she falls ill, and her illness is beyond the abilities of Gaius; a new arrival claims he can cure her, leading a skeptical Merlin and Gaius to investigate.

Merlin does all he can and risks everything he has worked for to release Gwendolyn from the evil clutches of Morgana's dark control, but there is no telling if it will be enough to set her free once and for all and let her return to her normal life.

A series of deadly events is closing in around King Arthur in Camelot, but Merlin is far from the city, making it difficult for him to save his King from the deadly intentions of his worst enemies and those closest to him.

As part of her machinations to destroy her half-brother, a scheming Morgana utilizes the allure of Queen Guinevere to lead King Arthur into a devious and destructive trap that is designed to result in his untimely death.

As part of her machinations to destroy her half-brother, a scheming Morgana utilizes the allure of Queen Guinevere to lead King Arthur into a devious and destructive trap that is designed to result in his untimely death.

After starting its run on NBC, this British co-production soon moved over to Syfy and has gone on for another four seasons, including this, its fifth and final outing. This version of the Arthurian tale has given us an entirely new look at characters we've known and loved. How will it all end and what will become of our heroes? Well, tonight we get our first hints at just what is to come. Expect new episodes in the final season to run once a week from now until that 13th and final episode airs at the end of March.

The Great Dragon unleashes a brutal and relentless attack against the kingdom of Camelot after Merlin releases him from his captivity, prompting Arthur to embark upon a quest to locate the last surviving dragonlord and convince him to help.

A series of peace talks are held in Camelot, and one of the rival kings attempts to ignite hostilities between kingdoms by ordering his jester to cast a spell on Arthur that will make him fall in love with another rival king's beloved daughter.

A mysterious seeress gains entry to Camelot, fights her way through the castle and challenges Arthur to a duel; after getting a chance to talk to his mother, Arthur returns to the castle to confront his father about the circumstances of his birth.

Merlin is forced to become a fugitive when Catrina accuses him of stealing her father's seal, and she continues her efforts to manipulate Uther and gain control of Camelot while Merlin and Gaius work on a plan to expose her true identity.

Do you even remember that this series began its US run on NBC? No, no you don't, because it was on the network but briefly and then found its way to sister cable network Syfy. There, it has managed to last despite so many other scripted Syfy shows going the way of the dodo (you may have noticed we like that turn of phrase). Merlin and Arthuer and Uther and Gwen and Morgana and Gaius (not Baltar) are going to be here for this season and are going to ensure that we all have a great swords and sorcerers time. And, do be careful about what you say, if you claim to not like the show they may send a dragon after you.

After airing very briefly on NBC, "Merlin" has managed to find a nice home for itself on this side of the pond with cable network Syfy. The show is wrapping up season three tonight with the second episode of a two-parter. We're not sure that the story itself will get wrapped up, in fact it might be a little odd if it did, but we definitely expect it to be pushed forward in new, different, and interesting ways. We're certainly not suggesting that either Merlin or Arthur will meet their untimely ends, but who knows, anything really is potentially possible (even with magic outlawed in this Camelot)

Quite obviously this is not the traditional telling of the Arthurian legend. We could point to any number of reasons for this, but the most obvious may be that Merlin ages forwards, not backwards. Actually, we'd love to see an on-going series which focused on the wizard and did go backwards in time (forwards for him), but that would be incredibly difficult to achieve, wouldn't it? Sure, "Seinfeld" can do it for an episode and "Memento" can sustain an entire feature that way, but a weekly series running for multiple years? That seems a whole lot more difficult. We'll happily settle for this version for now.

To suggest that "Merlin" has been an astounding success in the United States may be a wee bit foolhardy. However, we will not be saying anything remotely unpleasant or derogatory about the series as we believe in the power of television and the characters who appear on it. That is to say, we firmly believe that if we speak ill of a television wizard we'll be turned into a toad or a salmon or a lobster. We don't want that for our lives. We like to eat frog and salmon and lobster but we don't particularly fancy being one of them. Long live the wizard (even if it's not on this show)!